Baggage-rack.



' -YIII F. E. HOWARD.

BAGGAGE RACK.

APPLICATION r1151) MAR. 8. 1911.

Patented May 18, 1915.

7 ll 11 11 11 1] 11 11 5 1 MT 6 8 /a /0 9- THE NORRIS PETERS CQ, PHDTO-LITHOU WASHINGTON D, c.

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Ba 111k. E. Howard.

barren smarts rarnnr orricn f 1 FRANK n. nowean, or nnnrronn, CONNECTICUT, Assrenon TO JAMES L. riownnn a COMPANY, OF HARTFORD, CONNECTICUT, A CORPORATION OE CONNECTICUT.

resellers-neon.

Application filed March 8, 1911. Serial No. 613,017.

To all, whom it may concern: a

Be it known that I, FRANK E. HOWARD, a citizen of the UnitedStates, residing at Hartford, in the county of Hartford and State of Connecticut, have invented new and useful Improvements in Baggage-Racks, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to baggage [racks for railway passenger coaches, and comprises improvements inthe construction and arrangement of said racks, whereby their manufacture and assembling improved, simplified, and reduced in cost; without impairing their capacity for withstanding the strains incident to their use. i

In designing baggage racks of this character for use in passenger coaches, itis desirable to provide for making them standard units, which without any change in the form or manufacture may be employed either as single separate racks disposedat intervals along thewall of'the car, oras continuous racks firmly connectedjtogether and extending continuously along the wall. It is also desirabletdmake thedifferent and separable units as few as possible, with the least practicable number of extra and special fastenings or other small parts, which are liable to be lost, or misplacedin assembling. It is also desirable, even when making the parts symmetrical in external appearance, to provide for making the outer side of the rack stronger and more firmly secured together than the portion thereof which is next to the wall, since it is the outer portion which is subjected to the greatest weight and severest strains when in use.

The present invention makes it possible,

to properly design and proportion the parts, and to providefor their secure assembling and fastening together, with due regard to, this relative severity of use of the different parts. Advantage is taken of the fact that the rearward main supporting member of the rack bottoms does not need to be as stiff or as strong as the front member; also that it does not need to be tied to the brackets as does the front member, on account ofthe fact that the wall of the car, to which the brackets must be securely fastened, serves as a tie member for holding together the feet of the brackets, against the rearward ends of the rack bottoms; In connection therewlth provision is made for preventing the reversal ofthe rack bottoms from front to rear in. assembling them on the wall of.

the car, and in restoring them to place after. beingrem'oved for repairs or for any other purpose.- Hence, accordlng to the present invention, while the front, main support- Specification of Letters latent. Patented May 18, 1915, V

gether by the car wall, the endwise'or tying connection is dispensed with, and a plain,

simple socket connection is employed between the ends of the-rear member and the side faces of the bracket. Furthermore, in

order to prevent the aforesaid reversal of the rack bottom from front to back, which would defeat one of the main purposes of the invention, the attaching joints between the rearward members of the rack bottom and the bracket are made entirely different from the attachingjoints between the front members of therack bottom and the outer. ends'of the brackets, the sockets or'seats forv the rearward members being preferably made imperforate to prevent the insertion t,

or use of any tie-rods or studs, or other means which may be'employed at the out- Ward end of the brackets for tying them to gether lengthwise of the car.

Figure 1 of the drawingsis a plan view of a complete section, and another partial'sec tion of one of these improved racks} Fig.

projected from Fig. 1. Figs. ,8, 45,5 and6 2 is a side view of one of the wallbrackets, V

are fragmentary views in enlarged scale, and partly in section, showing different forms" of the improved socket connection between the wall brackets and the rearward longitudinal' member of the rack bottom. Figs. 7, 8 and 9am planviews also in enlarged scalefand partially in section of modified tying connections between the outer ends of 1' thewall brackets and the front longitudinal members of the rack bottoms. 10 ,1s

an end view projected from Fig. 9, andFig. 11 is a rearward view In section taken on r the line 1111 ofFig. 10, showing a modi I brackets.

fied construction of the 'outerend of the wall brackets and their connection with the front memberfof the-rack'bottom. Fig. 12 is a" 'plan view also in enlarged scale, showing a method of completing the joints on. the

outergsides of the outer ends 1 of the'wall The principal units herein employed are only two in number,'the rack bottoms, designated in a general .way by A, and the brackets B. The feet of the brackets are secured to the wall C of the car by means of suitable bolts or screws, and are provided with,bosses 5 and 6 for receiving'and supporting the ends of the rack bottomsA.

The rack. bottom units'A are made in a unitary structure, the main supporting members of which are the front longitudinal member 8 and the rearward longitudinal member-9,, the ends of which connect with and are "supported by the bosses 5 and 6, respectively of thejbraokets B. r The basket or grill portion of the rack bottoms A may be made up in various ways. They are herein shown to consist. of the longitudinal rods" or tubes 10 connected with each other and with the front and rear members Sand 9 by Q; means of cross-bars l1.

1 cross-bars form an open floor for the rack,

These rods and upon which "the pieces of baggage rest. Theyare fastened together soas to constitute a firm-and unitary structure, -which,

like thebrackets B may be duplicated to any desired extent by uniform processes of manufacture, and in transportation, assembling and'the making of repairs, are handled and treated as a single piece.

The ends of the rearward member 9 are I: connected with the bosses 6 of the brackets by asimple socket joint in either of the ways illustrated in enlarged scalein Figs. 3, 4, 5a'nd' 6. In Figs."8, 5 ands, the ends of the members 9. project into seats recessed in the sides ofthe bosses 6 of the brackets, whilein the form shown in Fig. 4, the tubular ends ofthe members 9 fit upon the exterior of the bosses 15. These recessesand bosses may be made upon one side of the bracket only, as'shown in Figs.- 5 and 6, in oasesi'where thebaggageracks are only to be used singly. [But where there is any likelihood/that the racks are to be joined together,in a continuous form, as shown in Fig. 1, the :brackets are uniformlyprovided with socketfconnections. for the rear members9 upon bothjsidesv of the bracket, as

shown in Figs. 3' and 4:. 7

Obviously, either the front members 8, or the rear members 9 maybe made either solid or tubular; and in the latter case the ends of the tubes may be'open as shown in Figs. Sand 4c';.,ortheymay be closed at their. ends, asfshown in Figs. 5 and'6. In F igQ 5, the end of the tubular member 9 is closed by] means of 'a hollow cup or thimble 13,

while in Fig. 6 the end of the tube is closed by meansof a solid plug 14. In Fig. 4 the ends of the tubular members 9 aresupported by the bosses 15,;which extend within the tube, and'thus not only support the tube,

but serve, like the filling pieces 13 and 14, to prevent the ends of the tube 9 from collapsing. In each of these instances, the rearward member 9 of the rack bottom is merely f slipped'up'on or into the bosses correspond eral strength, butfit is also desirableto'conne ct themwiththe outer ends of the brackets I by a tying joint, to prevent spreading movement of the outer ends' of the brackets. Therefore, the front members 8, although they may be of the samesize as the rearward members 9 for symmetry of appearance, are

preferably of much stronger construction,

either of solid rods or reinforced tubing. As these-baggage racks are generally of brass orbronze'finish, it is customary and desir ablefto employ brass or bronze tubes for these frontv members reinforced by steel rods,'as herein shown, to insure proper stiffness, and toy fasten their endsto the front ends ofthe bracket by means ofv screwthreaded connections' seated in eyesin the f' bosses 5, as shown in Figs. '7 and 12, or by means of button-header T-head rods fitting in corresponding T-shaped grooves or slots in the side faces of the brackets, as shown I in Figs. 9, l0 andll. V. v

. In Fig. 7, the ends of the front members 8 are shown to be supported in recessed seats in the side faces of the bosses 5 of the brackets; and the ends of the interior reinforcing" rods 17 arethreaded to receive a double-ended stud 18, which serves to tie the ends of the rods 17 and'the members 8 firmly to the sides of the brackets, thus preventing their spreading movement and the consequent release-of the ends of the mem- 1 bass.

In Fig. 8, the'ends of the interior rods themselves are screwed together, one within the other, thus drawing the ends ofthe members 8v againstthe side faces of the bosses 5, which in this case are not shown to be recessed. In Fig. 9 the ends of the tubular members 8 also abut against the'outer faces of the bosses 23, while the ends ofthe reinforcing rods 22 are shown to project beyond the ends of the tubes 8, and areprovided with button or flange-shaped heads 21, which are seated in correspondingly undercut T- shaped slots or grooves 25, cut in the side faces of the bosses 28. The openings leading to these T-shaped seats preferably extend toward the rearward side of the bracket, leaving the outward or front surface of the ends of'the brackets smooth.

In Fig. 12 is shown apreferred method of securing the outer sides of a'pair of brackets together when used in connection with a single rack, or of securing the end brackets in the case of the contmuous rack shown in Fig. 1. A nut 27 is screwed upon a projecting threaded extension of the reinforcing rod of the front member 8, which in this instance is shown to be a doubleendedstud 28, like the studlSof Fig. 7 In the. construction shown. in Fig. 8, the nut 27 may be screwed upon the threaded end of the reinforcing rod 20. In theconstruction shown in Figs. 9, l0 and 11, no such nut is needed. In that case also the T-slot 24 may be omitted from the outer sides of the paired brackets of a single rack, or the end brackets of a continuous rack, where so desired. As a general rule, however, it will be found preferable to make all brackets alike, where there is any possibility that they may be set up as continuous racks.

In assembling single racks of this character, the brackets are simply put'in position upon the ends of the racks, and then screwed to the wall. In setting up a continuous rack, an end bracket is first screwed to place, then the ends of a rack bottom are inserted, the next bracket is placed upon the other end of the rack bottom and screwed to the wall; then another rack bottom, and another bracket, and so on. The ends of the outer rack bottom members 8 are secured to the respective brackets when the latter are fastened to position, and before putting the next rack bottom in'place. On account of the differences in the seats for receiving the front and rear members of the rack bottoms, there is no danger of the rack bottoms being assembled in reverse position, that is with the front at the back, although they may be freely reversed end for end. In instances where the front and rear seats in the brackets B may otherwise be alike, as in Figs. 7 and 3, the imperforate condition of the seat at the rearward side of the bracket would prevent the insertion of the stud 18, or the threaded end of the rod 20 in that rearward seat, thus also making it impos sible to reverse the racks from front to back.

Any of the seats shown in Figs. 3, 4, 5 and 6, for the rearward longitudinal member 9 of the rack bottom, may be employed upon the same bracket with any of the seats for the front member 8 shown in Figs. 7 to 11, inclusive. The preference thus far indicated by my experience is for a recessed rearward seat like that shown in Fig. 3, in combination with a front seat and tie-rod like that able to plug the ends of the rearward member 9, as shown in Figs. 5 or'6, thus rendering the ends of the rearward member 9 imperforate as well as the seat therefor in the bracket B, thereby preventing the accidental or inadvertent insertion into the rearward member 9 of the reinforcing or tie-rods17,

. 20 or 22, intended only for the frontrack member 8.

. In all these cases separation between the shown in Fig. 8. I also consider it preferouter ends of the brackets and the ends of the brackets is prevented by the fact that the brackets are fastened to the. wall of the car; so that it is not possible for the racks to fall out of place or to be detached orv released from place either purposely or inadvertently, except by taking down the brackets. Although it it not without advantage to have the rack sections removable without taking down the brackets, yet the construction which permits such removal is necessarily more expensive. Moreover, in repairing or refinishing these racks, it is generally found necessary to repair and refinish the brackets also, for which purpose they must be removed from the wall of the car. The present invention therefore provides a rack of simple and inexpensive construction, which is positively and irremovably retained in position in the brackets while the latter are in position on the wall and when I used in a continuous rack the sections serve throu h their positive shouldered connection with t e outer ends of the brackets to tie the latter together so that the sections mutually contribute to the firmness of the structure.

I claim as my invention 1. The combination, in a baggage rack, of wall brackets, a rack bottom made in a unitary structure, including a non-extensible rear member,socket joints directly connect- 7 ing the said wall brackets with the ends of the rear member, preventing displacement of said rear member in any lateral direction, and a longitudinal front member, the ends of which have a shouldered tying connection with the outer ends of the wall brackets.

2 The combination, in baggage racks, of wall brackets, a rack bottom made in a unitary structure having a substantial front member,'a less substantial rear member, direct socketconnections between the ends of the rear 'member and the brackets, and means forming a positive tying connection holding the outer ends of the brackets againsttheends of-the said front memberof i and a portion of the bracket preventing displacement of said rail member from said bracket excepting in a longitudinal direction, and a shouldered tying connection between anotherrail member and another portion of the bracket preventing longitudinal Gfopies of this patentmay be obtained for from said bracket.

displacement of said second rail member 7 5. In a baggage rack, the combination of a wall bracket, a rack bottom made in a unitary structure, including longitudinal rail 'members, a socket jointconnection between the rearward rail member and the base portion ofthe bracket preventing displacement of said rail member from said bracket excepting in a longitudinal direction, and a threaded connection clamping the end of the front rail member against the outer end of the bracket and preventing both lateral and longitudinal displacement of the said front member from said bracket. V

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in, the presence of two subscribingwitnesses FRANK E. HOWARD. Witnesses:

WM; H. HoNIss, CAROLINE M. BREOKLE.

five cents each, by addressing the f Commissioner of Patentl,

rwashington. D. q. 

